As of April 1st, recreational vessels are now permitted to fish for pelagic and non-groundfish species within the Recreational Rockfish Conservation Area, including anchoring overnight. NOAA Fisheries enacted an emergency regulation (89 FR 22352; April 1, 2024) temporarily altering a continuous transit rule for recreational vessels in California. Effective until September 30, 2024, vessels are no longer required to continuously transit through said area, instead now being able to responsibly utilize this recreational fishing area during a large portion of the 2024 season.
The original enforcement of the continuous transit requirement overlooked its negative impact on the recreational fishery. Without even considering the overall management challenges associated with such a regulation, this ruling also failed to consider the positive economic benefits associated with permitting recreational fishing within the conservation area. With this recent adjustment, however, this is a win for the offshore recreational fishing community and we at TBF are glad NOAA recognized the urgency for this modification.
It is important to note, that the emergency rule maintains a prohibition on deploying groundfish gear shoreward of the Recreational Rockfish Conservation Area, minimizing impacts on the rockfish fishery it is looking to protect.
